When food delivery platforms land in a country, they arrive into pre-existing labour market and industrial relations norms. In some countries, those norms can be relatively conducive to the business model which these platforms want to impose, while in others it can make things more complicated for the platforms.

Austria is a case of the latter. In Austria collective bargaining remains at the heart of industrial relations, including in the private sector, with almost all workers covered by a collective agreement, even if they are not in a union. Works Councils exist which give workers some degree of insight and influence over corporate decision-making. While trade unions are not as strong as they once were, they are much more firmly rooted in the economy than in most European countries.

How has the food delivery sector fitted into this picture in Austria? What success have unions had in curbing the excesses of food delivery platforms? And what can unions and riders in other countries learn from union organising in Austrian food delivery?

To discuss all this and more, the Gig Economy Project spoke to Robert Walasinski, project manager of the Riders Collective, which is part of the International Department of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB). 

We discuss: 

01:50: Have food delivery platforms disrupted Austria’s social partnership model of industrial relations?

22:18: Union organising in Austria’s food delivery sector

31:15: Wolt’s entry into the Austrian market

34:50: The importance of gig worker organising internationally